BTW, I am here at the show hanging with the Pelletstoves.com CEO! Just catching up on history, etc. - not talking business, but fun anyway. He is a good guy and has a keen awareness of what is going on. This is no flash in the pan, but a "man with a plan". They have a booth here in order to look for dealers, since PS can provide good prices to most dealers (often better than what they are paying now).

all I know is it cost me about 38.00 a week with fuel oil..(10 gallons of diesel fuel) to run the furnace for the week..
and its taken more than a bag a day to match it..which is costing close to the same.. its certainly no where near half of the cost of fuel oil.
if it takes 10 bags of pellets at 4.00 thats 40.
so there isnt much leeway.
The only way that I will save money is to get it preseason at a reasonable price.

all I know is it cost me about 38.00 a week with fuel oil..(10 gallons of diesel fuel) to run the furnace for the week..

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Not knowing much about this but why would you burn diesel fuel in your furnace? I have heard of people doing that to get by for a week but I wonder if heating oil would burn any different?

I don't think pellets are going to save me a ton of money on my heating and I have Electric heat. It may save me $100 a month. If any parts break on the stove and cost me $100 - $200 to fix then I will not save much at all. I guess if I was heating my basement rooms with electric heat as warm as I am heating them with the pellet stove I would see another $100 a month savings. So maybe it is cutting back more than I think.

Wonder if you are doing the same? Heating a space that you didn't heat as much before the pellet stove plus your normal living space?

all I know is it cost me about 38.00 a week with fuel oil..(10 gallons of diesel fuel) to run the furnace for the week..
and its taken more than a bag a day to match it..which is costing close to the same.. its certainly no where near half of the cost of fuel oil.
if it takes 10 bags of pellets at 4.00 thats 40.
so there isnt much leeway.
The only way that I will save money is to get it preseason at a reasonable price.

Actually, from what I can tell, oil costs almost twice per BTU what pellets cost. I think pellets would have to be $400 or more a ton to cost as much as oil.

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No, oil does not cost twice as much. In fact, averaged out over the last two years (both oil and pellets) is about 20% less for pellets - meaning $400 worth of pellets may be the same as $500 worth of oil. To even be slightly accurate you have to figure in the delivery and loading of the pellets since oil includes there.

Right at this point in time, which is alway subject to changing quickly, oil is at a high and pellets are about at their low (of the last 2 years). That means oil is right now about 50% higher or said another way, pellets are 33% cheaper per million BTU. That means $666 dollars worth of pellets replaces $1000 worth of oilt

But if one is in the game for saving money, it never pays to calculate things at a single moment in time. Even it out over 5 years years or so. Don't make assumptions, just use history.

No, oil does not cost twice as much. In fact, averaged out over the last two years (both oil and pellets) is about 20% less for pellets - meaning $400 worth of pellets may be the same as $500 worth of oil. To even be slightly accurate you have to figure in the delivery and loading of the pellets since oil includes there.

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So...if you include your labor in loading the pellets.....then you would have to do that with just about everything we use....so the guy paying 25 dollars to have his drive way plowed isnt saving a heck of a lot when he snow blows his own drive and pays 4 bucks for gas? The guy fertilizing and mowing and raking his own leaves instead of having a lawncare service doing it isnt saving much? The guy taking his own trash to the dump weekly(if the city does not do it) instead of a trash company taking it isnt saving much? A lady doing her own hair instead of a beauty shop do it isnt saving much?
I dont count my labor in getting pellets. Or wood when I burned for 15 years. I consider it a little sweat equity of sorts. You gotta give a little sometimes to save a bit. Theres "no" question I save and its tremendous savings. To say 400 dollars worth od pellets is like 500 dollars worth of oil is just not true in my house....400 dollars worth of pellets will last me nearly all winter if not all winter....as 500 dollars worth of oil would ;ast me a month and a half, maybe not even that if its colder.

31 bags in 52 days ($139.50)@ 4.50 a bag.

Est. oil: 3 gal. a day approx.
52 days @ 3.20 a gal. = 500.00

Estimated saving for 52 days = $360.50

139.50 compared to 500.00.....I think it speaks for itself. As for the loading etc.....I do what I do when I burned wood....make it a family and friend day, have a big spaghetti feed etc......and load pellets instead of loading wood...lol. Pellets go MUCH quicker and you get some exercise

I recommend alot to use pellet stoves, much less work than wood. But.....be prepared to clean daily for some stoves even if it is 15 minutes. Some people expect to set the thermostat and forget about it like a furnace....to a point you can. But cleaning is a must for optimal performance.

No, oil does not cost twice as much. In fact, averaged out over the last two years (both oil and pellets) is about 20% less for pellets - meaning $400 worth of pellets may be the same as $500 worth of oil. To even be slightly accurate you have to figure in the delivery and loading of the pellets since oil includes there.

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So...if you include your labor in loading the pellets.....then you would have to do that with just about everything we use....so the guy paying 25 dollars to have his drive way plowed isnt saving a heck of a lot when he snow blows his own drive and pays 4 bucks for gas? The guy fertilizing and mowing and raking his own leaves instead of having a lawncare service doing it isnt saving much? The guy taking his own trash to the dump weekly(if the city does not do it) instead of a trash company taking it isnt saving much? A lady doing her own hair instead of a beauty shop do it isnt saving much?
I dont count my labor in getting pellets. Or wood when I burned for 15 years. I consider it a little sweat equity of sorts. You gotta give a little sometimes to save a bit. Theres "no" question I save and its tremendous savings. To say 400 dollars worth od pellets is like 500 dollars worth of oil is just not true in my house....400 dollars worth of pellets will last me nearly all winter if not all winter....as 500 dollars worth of oil would ;ast me a month and a half, maybe not even that if its colder.

31 bags in 52 days ($139.50)@ 4.50 a bag.

Est. oil: 3 gal. a day approx.
52 days @ 3.20 a gal. = 500.00

Estimated saving for 52 days = $360.50

139.50 compared to 500.00.....I think it speaks for itself. As for the loading etc.....I do what I do when I burned wood....make it a family and friend day, have a big spaghetti feed etc......and load pellets instead of loading wood...lol. Pellets go MUCH quicker and you get some exercise

I recommend alot to use pellet stoves, much less work than wood. But.....be prepared to clean daily for some stoves even if it is 15 minutes. Some people expect to set the thermostat and forget about it like a furnace....to a point you can. But cleaning is a must for optimal performance.

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What kind of efficiency are you getting out of your oil furnace/boiler?
The savings are definitely huge if you have an older furnace and are down in the 50-60% efficiency range.

I'm saving big this year with the two stoves though I do put a value on my own time. I can handle 20-30 hours per winter messing around with stoves and shuffling pellets around. If it were much more than that then I would not have time for it.

Actually, from what I can tell, oil costs almost twice per BTU what pellets cost. I think pellets would have to be $400 or more a ton to cost as much as oil.

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No, oil does not cost twice as much. In fact, averaged out over the last two years (both oil and pellets) is about 20% less for pellets - meaning $400 worth of pellets may be the same as $500 worth of oil. To even be slightly accurate you have to figure in the delivery and loading of the pellets since oil includes there.

Right at this point in time, which is alway subject to changing quickly, oil is at a high and pellets are about at their low (of the last 2 years). That means oil is right now about 50% higher or said another way, pellets are 33% cheaper per million BTU. That means $666 dollars worth of pellets replaces $1000 worth of oilt

But if one is in the game for saving money, it never pays to calculate things at a single moment in time. Even it out over 5 years years or so. Don't make assumptions, just use history.

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Craig,

I certainly respect your expertise. I have been tracking my oil burning history for 6 years, and with conservation I average about 5 gallons a day of oil during winter (more than many folks - probably because my old house has many uninsulated walls). Through 18 days of pellet stove operation in February, which was normally cold here, I averaged 1.75 bags a day, using Energex, which now retails for $5.60 as bag here, so that's $176. Oil, at 5 gallons a day and $3.50 a gallon, would have been $315, almost 80% higher. I realize this is just an 18 day recent period, and not over the last two years. I don't expect oil to drop substantially in the future as India and China use so much of it as they industrialize. Certainly if pellets go up higher than oil goes up the 80% will decline.

What kind of efficiency are you getting out of your oil furnace/boiler?
The savings are definitely huge if you have an older furnace and are down in the 50-60% efficiency range.

I'm saving big this year with the two stoves though I do put a value on my own time. I can handle 20-30 hours per winter messing around with stoves and shuffling pellets around. If it were much more than that then I would not have time for it.[/quote]

I have a New Yorker Boiler...I had it put in new approx. 9 years ago. Just had it cleaned 3 weeks ago...and was operating at 85% efficiency. I dont mind the pellet shuffling either etc.

For those in the Northeast, I was just curious about prices at pelletsales.com and noticed they are having a clearance on Quality Wood Pellets. I can’t endorse the product, I’ve never used them, but they are listed as premium pellets with .3% ash. They are selling for $179 per ton in 1.4 tons increments.

I’m not looking to buy myself at this point, but I figured I’d pass this on.

I can endorse Pelletsales.com though. Great service, good prices.

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Well I cannnot in good faith endorse this product.
I just picked up 15 bags for m,y local dealer as he was out of Cubex and NEP.

I knew I was in for it when I started hauling them into my house.
I could smell the nasty musty pellet smell through the bags. Not a good sign.
Upon burniing (closer inspection) the bags contained more fines than ANY other brand of pellet I have EVER used (in 8 years of pellet burning that is saying alot). While I was loading my plellets at the stove shop I could see the Quality Pellets being offloaded from the big pellet truck....so I asume they were moderatly fresh.
The stove didn't really like byurning them.
They cause the worst clinkers I have seen to date in my Harmen (new in Oct 07).
I will not buy these pellets again (if I can help it).

I'm seeing good results so far with those same pellets. I agree that the fine content is pretty high, but I have had no issues with clinkers in either of my stoves (Harman P61 and St Croix). In fact, I had a pretty significant clinker issue with my last ton of NE Hardwoods running in my St Croix, so i've been happy with the change.
It is possible you got a bad lot since when I loaded my 4+ tons it filled the basement with a nice pine smell (not musty).
As with any pellets I guess individual results will vary from stove to stove...and sometimes lot to lot.
You might consider going back to the dealer to see if you can swap out your remaining supply.

Well I cannnot in good faith endorse this product.
I just picked up 15 bags for m,y local dealer as he was out of Cubex and NEP.

I knew I was in for it when I started hauling them into my house.
I could smell the nasty musty pellet smell through the bags. Not a good sign.
Upon burniing (closer inspection) the bags contained more fines than ANY other brand of pellet I have EVER used (in 8 years of pellet burning that is saying alot). While I was loading my plellets at the stove shop I could see the Quality Pellets being offloaded from the big pellet truck....so I asume they were moderatly fresh.
The stove didn't really like byurning them.
They cause the worst clinkers I have seen to date in my Harmen (new in Oct 07).
I will not buy these pellets again (if I can help it).

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This sounds like it might be more of an issue with how the dealer stored them or this particular lot of pellets as opposed to the pellets in general.

I will not buy these pellets again (unless I have too).
You may be right about the storage at the dealer I am dealing with...but it is highly unlikely as they have a big turnover there.
But the pellets stink...they smell so bad that you can smell it on your hands well over an hour after handling the pellets. Suppose I should wash my hands more.
I do agree with you about the clinkers with the NEP harwood...terrible clinkers.
But not as bad as the Quality in my Harmen.You really have a scape the firepot before the clinker come off)with the Quality)
I have also noticed that the pellets themselves were thicker than any I have used this season (fireside,cubex,NEP). I had to adjust the feed rate to a higher setting while using the Quality.
If they are cheap than maybe I would get them...but even the HD Firesides are better.
So last pellet of choice for me is Quality.

I just got some of those pellets today( Quaility) 200.00 per ton and if you bought 8 pallets it would be 180.00 they had two types clear bag and a white one but there are suppose to be the same pellets and they do have a pine smell to them .He also advertised them at 8800 btu....